SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The College of Wooster women's cross country team logged its highest finish at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships since 1998, and a quartet of Fighting Scots were all-conference finishers at Saturday's meet at the Clark County Fairgrounds. Wooster's women placed third with 97 points, and the men ranked seventh with 184 points.

Sophomore Athena Tharenos and senior Isabelle Hoover earned first-team all-conference laurels, thanks to finishes in Saturday's top-seven. Of note, they are the first Scots to earn first-team All-NCAC honors in cross country since W Association Hall of Famer Katie Wieferich was the individual champion at the 2006 league meet. Wooster last had a pair of first-teamers in 1998, when the Scots finished as the co-NCAC champion. Tharenos' 23:38.1 was sixth, while Hoover was right behind in seventh with a time of 23:41.1.

Senior Kayla Bertholf picked up all-conference laurels for the second time with the 17th-place time of 24:19.0, and first-year Dylan Kretchmar was in the top-25 at 24:38.4. Fellow first-year Jessica Breth rounded out the scorers, and she was 49th with a time of 26:14.6.

Senior Rachel Osterhouse (51st-place, 26:19.8) and first-year Elise Greenwald (65th-place, 27:24.2) rounded out Wooster's top-seven for the championship.

First-year Will Callender continued to lead the team, and he's been the top Wooster finisher at every meet this fall. He collected second-team all-conference honors with the ninth-place time of 26:50.9.

Further down the standing was first-year Ben Nichols, Wooster's No. 2 on the day at 27:58.7. Sophomore Duncan Hardy (28:05.4) and first-year Drew Robertson (28:06.3) joined Nichols in the top-50, and they were the Scots' third and fourth finishers.

Senior Alex DeLong (57th-place, 28:29.9), first-year Eric Johnson (59th-place, 28:33.3), and sophomore Mitch Ecklund (83rd-place, 29:38.1) comprised the rest of Wooster's top-seven.

DePauw University won the men's championship with 32 points, while Denison University's Keanan Ginell was first to cross at 25:56.4. On the women's side, Allegheny College captured the championship with 33 points, and the Gators' Megan Aaron earned runner of the year honors with the winning time of 22:43.7.

Next, Wooster hosts its annual 5K Twilight Challenge at John P. Papp Stadium on Friday, November 5. The meet is set for a 7 p.m. start.